you keep dreaming and i'm scheming

[mismanagement]

Who: Maketh Tua, Rey, Henry Percy, Lance Sweets, Nick Valentine.
What: Some needed conversations.
Where: Guard Post
When: Nov 10
Warnings: tbd



It's a normal day, so far as Maketh knows. She's got a mug of good coffee, reports that only need marginal corrections before they can be filed, and no one has killed anyone yet. The day is young but she's hopeful. And in a relatively good mood.

She looks up with a faint smile.

"Oh, hello. I wasn't expecting you."

Comments

[synthedick]

No one has killed anyone today, but people have been killed, hence why Nick is at work, as usual. He'd stepped out for a bit to run his patrol route, spotting Maketh as he returns. He's been so buried in rerouting patrols and trying to make sure that as many people as possible were covered that he hasn't really gotten the chance to speak to her lately.

He should, though. They need to talk.

"I've been trying to do more work around here rather than at home," he replies as he steps over to his desk, tossing some files atop it. Though not necessarily happy about that, it has to be done.

[mismanagement]

More files. Maketh sets them into an orderly pile, nodding to herself. "There's a great deal to be done."

She glances up at him.

"How are you doing, Nick?"

[synthedick]

Nick pauses at his desk. His mind turns over the threats in the city, the threats to the people, and the threats from within the Guard themselves. Lance's remarks turn the gears in his mind, as does the list the Null put out. Prussia's murder. The Guard and everything they've worked for being undermined by someone he respects -- someone who he can't doubt has the best intentions at heart.

He pulls in a breath, sighing. It doesn't help ease the tension in his shoulders in any biological way, but maybe it helps that little part of him that still remembers being a real person. He might not be real anymore, and hell, maybe he never was, but he has plenty of reason to keep trying to do what's good for the city... even if it isn't the easiest thing in the world to do.

Later, he tells himself. He needs to take this one step at a time.

"Not well, frankly," he answers honestly. "Spent a lot of last night trying to rearrange the patrols, keep all the streets covered. It's hard when we never have enough hands around here."

[mismanagement]

"Things have become--complicated."

More so than before. Maketh supposes this is to be expected. She rubs her face with a sigh.

"We need more Guardsmen. There aren't enough. Some citizens have already started hiring themselves bodyguards."

[synthedick]

"It's hard to get more when folks either don't know about us, don't know what it is we do, or don't trust us at all."

There's not much more they can do about the first two: he's had Mello add them to the information for newcomers, and corrected more people than he'd like on the fact that no, they aren't the police. That last point is... well, as Maketh put it, complicated.

"Doesn't help when our own get killed in the line of fire," he offers, wondering just how much Maketh has heard, or if she's been too busy with other projects.

[mismanagement]

Trust. It's something that others have been bringing up lately, a thought that sits sour with Maketh. Because she has been working for the good of everyone, she has, she's a good officer. But the questions--

She blinks.

"...what?"

[synthedick]

"Gilbert Beilschmidt," he answers immediately, his back still to Maketh as he faces his own desk. His metal hand curls against it, bare digits scratching the wood. "Killed over a week ago by a fella named Yukari. Someone close to Curufin. He's dealing with it."

Or so he says. Nick will be following up on that.

[mismanagement]

A week. A full week has gone by since this happened and somehow this is the first that Maketh is hearing about it. She has people, she's been training Rome to become a proper officer, and yet, somehow, this happens. This has happened.

She takes a breath. Lets it out sharp.

"How many people know?"

[synthedick]

"Could be a few. Could be the whole damn city. He told the Null over the network without even putting it behind lock and key."

That's how he found out, after all. Most people probably don't do constant surveillance over the network -- most people have to sleep sometime -- but the fact it was out there at all was unsettling enough. How many others could put together the dots? How many more knew about how close Curufin and Yukari had been, or that Prussia was a member of the Guard alongside the elf?

[mismanagement]

Maketh grits her teeth. She's been so focused on the weapon lately that she's let things slip. Unacceptable. "Do you trust Curufin to handle it?"

[synthedick]

Nick hesitates in his answer, which is likely answer enough.

"I'm giving him the chance to handle it. He deserves that for all he's done for us." And if Yukari turns out to be a problem again, then they'll know where his loyalties lie, but for now, Nick wants to give him the benefit of the doubt.

[mismanagement]

"His service has been excellent," Maketh says absently. Back on Lothal, she would have weighed his loyalty against his subtlety. Whatever won would have dictated her actions. Here there are other concerns. "He deserves some time to sort it out his way. But not much longer. Then we step in."

[synthedick]

"And what do you propose we do?" Nick asks. He's run through the options in his mind, from what might work to what was absolutely out of the realm of possibility, and in the end, he's struggled to come up with anything good. There is no one-size-fits-all answer regarding punishment of criminals in the city, namely because there is no law, and therefore, no real crimes. On top of that, the Guard has no real authority, and it isn't their duty to seek it.

But something does have to be done about murderers. The question is what, and will he even like what Maketh suggests.

[mismanagement]

Maketh exhales slowly. This has to be handled before it gets even further out of hand. "We make a public statement. Explain what happened. Ask what the community wants and then--abide by it. It would be best if Curufin were to handle it quietly, but I suppose we cannot count on that."

[synthedick]

Nick's brow furrows. He knows Curufin can be... well, enthusiastic in his approach at times, but he takes his position on the Guard seriously -- or he has so far.

"Let's give him a chance to do so, first," Nick suggests, wanting to give the elf the benefit of the doubt for the moment, especially in light of how things have been withing the Guard as a whole. "Maybe he'll surprise us."

[mismanagement]

"Perhaps."

Maketh isn't feeling confident about that, but the Guardsmen are a hardy group. They've survived worse.

"We will do what must be done. Always."

[synthedick]

Do what must be done, indeed. Nick is starting to wonder just what it is that must be done about the Guard -- especially when one of them goes astray.

"If you say so," he returns just a bit noncommittally, finally taking a seat. Maybe some paperwork will help him sort things out in his head, especially when it comes to Maketh herself. He wants her to do what's right, wants her to be better, but he's given her chances before. How many will it take before he does something?

They need to talk, but now that he's given the opportunity, he finds himself at a loss for words. Whatever he says is going to hurt like hell, but maybe he's not the right person to hear them from. Maybe she'll listen to someone else. The question is who.